The New Marauder
by Shehjaar
Summary: An explosion, and everything was gone. My version of what Fred sees after his death during thee Battle Of Hogwarts.


**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Franchise will, sadly, never be mine. It belongs to JKR, isn't that common knowledge?**

 **There's an Author's Note at the end for all those folks who are uber-mad at me for having abandoned my ScoRose FanFic for such a long time.**

The New Marauder

 _Last thing he knew was that he saw Percy sending jinxes in Thicknesse's direction; that he looked gleefully at his older brother, saying, 'You actually are joking, Perce. I don't think I've heard you joking since you were-' A blast, and everything was gone._

Fred Weasley opened his eyes slowly, and felt for the hard ground on which he was lying. His mind was indecribably heavy, as though it had just awoken from a long, deep and peaceful sleep...

And just then, the memories of the Battle, the explosion, _Percy_ , came rushing in from all sides and he got with a start, his mind racing in all directions. Fred stared down at his jeans, his hands still resting on the ground, thinking hard.

 _What was this place? How had he come to this place? Where was Hogwarts? Where were the others? Were they alright? Could something have possibly happened to them?_

He looked around wildly, gripping his flaming red hair in a highly panicked manner, and noticed his surroundings for the first time.

It looked like a room of clouds- or rather, a room _made_ of clouds. It was white, bright, and had a certain soft glow that somehow, however miraculously, managed to calm his panicked and confused senses. Fred stood up uncertainly, his knees trembling and his heart beating fast, but not uncontrollably. The more he looked around himself, the more his mind seemed to become oblivious to his doubts and fears; it was altogether a soothing effect.

Then, a hand gripped his right shoulder, gently. Instinctively, Fred's hand dived in his jeans pocket for his wand, only to find that he had none on him. Pale with fear and suspense, he turned round slowly to face the three figures standing behind him.

The first was a tall and well-built man, with a kind of haughty, but strikingly handsome face and dark, long hair that fell over his forehead with casual, bored elegance. Despite his slightly arrogant aura, he was grinning happily and warmly at Fred, who blinked in disbelief and almost lost his ability to speak due to the shock of seeing Sirius Black.

The next was shorter than Sirius, skinny and no more than 21, with soft, hazel eyes behind round glasses that were a little lopsided, and jet-black hair that obstinately stuck up in all directions. Like Sirius, he too was grinning at Fred, as though he had just met a long-lost friend. For a wild moment, Fred thought it was Harry, before he picked out differences like the absence of the brilliant green eyes and lightning-shaped scar. 'You're... Harry's Dad... ?' he half-asked quietly. James nodded eagerly.

Fred's honey brown eyes next fell on the last and shortest of the three. It was she who seemed to have gripped his shoulder, as she was standing the closest to him. She was a woman of the same age as James Potter, with a very pretty and kind face, dark red hair that was thick and fell to her waist, and eyes- (Fred stared incredulously)- startlingly brilliant, green eyes so identical to the ones that had uncertainly looked into Fred's own on the Hogwarts Express almost seven years ago. This simply _had_ to be Harry's Mum. ' And _you're_ Harry's Mum... .' Lily Potter, whose smile was the widest of all, smiled even more warmly, stepped forward and stroked his cheek lovingly.

Fred couldn't really stand it anymore. The horrible truth that he had somehow become oblivious to had now, completely, with full swing, dawned upon him. _He was dead._ In every sense of the word. Miles and miles away from everyone and everything he had treasured when he was alive. _Especially_ George. There had been no farewell, no explanations, no parting pranks or jokes or hugs. _Nothing_ at all. Lily's touch (though she could hardly be much older than him) made it all seem even more terrifyingly, piercingly real; it was like a mother's, _his_ mother's, in fact, and somehow made the fact that he was so far from his family even more painful.

'I'm dead, amn't I?' he choked out, tears rolling down his freckled face. 'Yes,' replied Sirius, edging closer to Fred. 'And w-what about the others? W-what ab-about G-g-eorge?' he whispered thickly, looking from Sirius to James to Lily, and then at no one in particular. 'They'll join us soon enough,' James said finally. ' After all, time flies too fast in here.' 'I have to go back, I have to!' cried Fred, fresh tears springing up in his brown eyes. 'George w-won't be able to live without me...p-please let me go, help me!' He looked pleadingly at James and Sirius, but it was Lily who responded.

'Shh...Freddie...' she said, pulling him into a comforting, motherly hug, and running a hand through his flaming red hair. 'Don't worry, darling...George will be alright...everything will be okay...'

Not very certain why her voice was so reassuring, Fred wiped one last tear that had trickled down his cheek and clumsily pulled out of the hug,after what seemed to be like _ages,_ uber-conscious of all the attention he was receiving. Finally he gave a small, embarrassed smile. 'Harry looks exactly like you, ...Except his eyes. He has-' '-his mother's eyes.' completed James, and Lily giggled. 'And just by the way, why _Mr. Potter?_ Call me James! Or rather-' (James and Sirius exchanged significant smirks)'-Prongs.' 'Prongs?' Fred repeated blankly, before the full effect of these words hit him like a Bludger. ' _Prongs?!_ You mean _Prongs?!_ "Messrs Moony, Wormatil, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of-'

' " Aids to Magical Mischief are proud to present The Marauder's Map."' Sirius finished off for him.'That's right, we're the Marauders, and _I_ made up this tagline.' He said all this with a proud, far-away look in his eyes, as though reminiscing those days of adolescence. 'I'm Prongs,'continued James. 'Sirius is Padfoot, Remus is Moony-' 'LUPIN?!' ' -and little Peter was Wormtail.' finished Sirius. 'SCABBERS?!' 'Yep,' said James.

Fred clapped his hands over his mouth in disbelief and incredulity, and the two Marauders smiled. 'Is there something more?' Fred asked weakly. 'I beg your pardon?' said Padfoot. 'Any more shocking truths to reveal?' ' Ah, yes...' said Prongs, his hazel eyes glinting. 'Padfoot, you start.' Sirius,who bore the same look of mischief as his best friend, took a deep breath and said,' As you can probably see, we've been two Marauders short for a pretty long time.'

'Moony will be here soon, Dolohov has seen to it, but there's still one vacancy left, so...'

'We were wondering whether,' (James and Sirius both looked directly at Fred) '-you'd like to become the new Marauder, Freddie?'

 _The new Marauder?_ _A part of the four great mischief-makers he and George had worshipped for almost five years?_ Fred's heart swelled to twice its normal size, and he stuttered excitedly,' Wha-? I can't believe-' You're not _joking, are you?'_ 'That's our favourite hobby, but, no, not right now.' James and Sirius said together, shaking their heads. 'Of _course_ I'll become the new Marauder!' said Fred, unable to keep his voice down. 'Where can we start, then?' asked James, his eyes glinting. 'Say Prongs, Mad-Eye's asleep, we can pull off a prank on hi-'

'Oh come on, for _Merlin's_ sake, let him rest for now!' Lily huffed crossly, her hands on her hips. 'And besides-' she continued, once again pulling Fred close to herself and stroking his forehead fondly; Fred was startled to see that the brilliant green of her almond-shaped eyes was shining with tears, 'I have a huge debt of Molly's to pay off.'

~The End~

 **A/N: _Finally over!_ *sighs with relief* This one was so emotionally draining, because I've always loved Fred and it pierced me with a dagger to write about his afterlife. I just hope I did justice to it. **

**About 'Out-Of-Bounds', my ScoRose FanFic, followers, I'M _REALLY REALLY_ sorry for leaving it off at that anti-climax. Ugh, I hate myself for it. But you see, I wanted to take a break from love stories, because they get a little cheesy, and er- remind me of... well, never mind. The thing is, I'll try my best to write it as soon as possible and post it too!**

 **Please please please review for this FanFic, though. It's really close to my heart, and put in every bit of creativity a child can possess at this age to bring it forth. Doesn't matter if the reviews aren't too good, I just want to know your opinion, you don't have to sugar-coat it.**

 **So, yeah, that's it and _jaa ne_! (Sorry for the Japanese, but don't you think it is an awesome language?)**

 **Till next time~ Shehjaar**


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